According to a new report, Nintendo plans to increase production of the Switch in the coming months.
According to a recent report by Bloomberg (opens in a new tab), after lowering projected Switch sales in November to 19 million units, Nintendo has informed suppliers that it plans to ramp up production starting in April. While sales of the six-year-old console are expected to start to decline, Nintendo says the decline they experienced in late 2022 was more related to supply issues than a lack of demand, Bloomberg reports.
Semiconductor and component sourcing problems have widely affected the electronics industry. While this has shortened Switch sales, we’ve also seen it impact PS5 production, with Sony eventually promising wider availability for the next-gen console in 2023.
Preparing the end of the world
April signals the beginning of a new financial year, so it would make sense for Nintendo to change its tactics in pursuit of new goals around this time. April is also important for another reason. A month later, in May, the release of Breath of the Wild 2 (officially known as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) – with the long-awaited sequel, is set to be one of Nintendo’s most important releases in 2023.
The Switch has always had great sales when lined up for major game releases, be it Splatoon 3 or Animal Crossing: New Horizons. So Nintendo may be ramping up stock to prepare for a hopeful surge in sales as people prepare to try out the next installment in the Zelda franchise.
This sales strategy is by no means unique. Ahead of the release of God of War Ragnarok in November 2022, Sony began increasing unit production (opens in a new tab) in September. With Ragnarok set to be the biggest title of the year, it was the best chance to encourage sales of the expensive and hard-to-find PS5. There is nothing worse than a game being released and fans unable to play it due to the lack of a console.
Hopefully more Switch copies will be available, and who knows, maybe we’ll even get a special edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Switch, as we saw with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.